


The Price For God's Protection

by Magnonette



Series: Snufkin gets PTSD [2]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cults, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rescue Missions, Snufkin gets ptsd, a bit of fluff if you stay til the end, might also be blood mention, might get a bit hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23108350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: Snufkin is coming back from his winter trip when he has a unfortunate encounter with a cult.Moomin and the gang will have to find out what happened to him and save him.
Relationships: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Series: Snufkin gets PTSD [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849654
Comments: 27
Kudos: 119





	1. An Unfortunate Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Hehehe, This is a new Project here! This is the M&M fic!
> 
> Working hand in hand With our dear Max, we're making this fic for anyone interested by it!
> 
> I got only one warning: It'll be really angsty, but it'll be good and have a happy ending don't worry :3
> 
> Enjoy~

The sun shone above the trees, casting the shadows of the leaves on the lone traveler walking on the path beneath them. The sound of the leaves and sticks cracking under his boots as he made his way back, accompanying the songs of the birds flying in the sky over him.

It was already Spring in Moomin Valley but Snufkin was a bit late this year. The weather had proved itself to be quite unpredictable this winter and had slowed his pace. Now that the sun was finally back, the first flowers already blooming by his feet, he could finally walk back to the Valley, happy and feeling refreshed from a nice and long trip south.

He was really excited at the idea to see his friends again, and mostly Moomin. Although he’d never really admit it to them, he’d really missed them all, particularly Moomin, their quiet walk through the forest, the calm fishing days, the days spent pranking the park keepers with his sister, and sometimes even with his father, the days at the beach. He’d missed every moment he’d spent with them all and couldn't wait to see them all again.

He was getting to the familiar path leading through the forest near MoominValley, when he heard voices from farther up on the path. He usually wouldn’t mind going by some other travelers, but somehow, he got the feeling he shouldn’t let them see him. He didn’t know if it was what his father called forebodings, but he knew that he shouldn’t go against his instinct.

Snufkin decided to go around, walking slowly in between the trees, crouching behind a bush when he heard the voices getting louder. He knew it would be easy to spot him with his hat on and that he would make more noises with his backpack. He slowly took off his hat, setting it on his bag at the base of a tree, before approaching the location from where the voices were coming from.

He wasn’t even sure why he was doing that, why he was going to spy on those people, but it felt as if it was the best choice at the moment. His instinct was telling him to be careful, that he should make sure they weren’t any threat before continuing on his way, as he was quite close to the Valley by now that if those people were planning anything it could be bad.

He couldn’t hear clearly their conversation yet, but, as he got closer, he could finally see the large group of people gathering in the middle of the path. Their look immediately told Snufkin that he’d been right to be careful. They were all wearing the same clothes, a long dress, dark in color, with a rope around their waist and a hood over their head. He’d never seen anyone like that before but, he knew that something was wrong with them.

What really started to set off alarms in his mind wasn’t only their outfit, but what they were talking about. 

As he sneaked closer, he couldn’t hear everything but, from what he could hear, they were planning something, and it wasn’t anything good. They seemed to be talking about MoominValley at first, rumors about the people living there, about how welcoming they were. 

Then, they started to talk about their intentions with the inhabitants of the Valley.

It seemed that they were planning on convincing them all to join their “group”. Snufkin couldn’t make out everything, but, from the little he could hear from his spot, he could hear them mentioning things about religions, their god, sacrifices for them, some sort of rituals of initiation.

Snufkin froze, the sudden realization of their intentions downing on him, as if he had just been stabbed in the heart.

Snufkin had heard many stories on his travels, some more believable than others. He’d heard all kinds of rumors, some about monsters running around in some forbidden places, others of some mythical creatures or plants that could only be seen if certain conditions were respected, or of strange people that could be dangerous or just hard to get around.

In that moment, however, he could finally remember the weirdest warning he’d gotten a few times on his travel. He’d come across a few people that warned him about this so-called group of people, that everybody named as a cult. They’d explain to him what those people could do to him if he wasn’t careful, about how easy it was for them to manipulate those around them. There were rumors about all the families that had disappeared after meeting those cultists, about what they’d been convinced to do to their own children in order to gain the protection of their god against the ”bad” of the world.

Snufkin, hit by the horrible truth of the situation as he continued to listen to their plan, started to back up slowly, not wanting to stay around them for too long in fear of what they would do if they spotted him. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He had to get as far away from them as possible before it was too late. He had to warn the Moomins and everyone in the Valley.

As if cursed by his own thoughts, Snufkin suddenly tripped on his tail, falling butt first on the grass beneath him, cracking some sticks as he went down. He silently cursed himself for his clumsiness before going still.

The voices… They were gone now.

Snufkin didn’t have the time to process anything as he saw the group of people emerge from between the trees surrounding him.

Fear overtook his body as they surrounded him, blocking any escape possible for him. He wanted to run, to scream, to call for help, but he couldn’t do anything, his body frozen in fear and his voice lost from the shock of being stuck in such a horrible situation without anyone to help him nearby.

He was so close, so, so close to MoominValley, to MoominHouse, to see all his friends and his family. Why? Why did that have to happen, now?

One of the figures stepped closer to him, and even though he couldn’t see their faces hidden under their hood, Snufkin could tell this one was studying him closely. He could tell they were about to say something but Snufkin spoke before they could.

He willed himself to regain his composure, going back to his feet and looking at them sharply.

“I know what you plan on doing to the Valley.” Snufkin warned, hissing under his breath. “I cannot allow that to happen.”

“Ho?” Said the person in front of him, a hint of a smile in his voice.

Snufkin felt himself tense up at the calmness of the person’s voice. Chills crawled up his spin as he tried to quickly come up with something.

“You need a sacrifice, don’t you?” Snufkin said, trying his best to not let his fear show in his voice at the sole thought of what he was about to say. “I will let you sacrifice me without fighting, but only if you swear you won’t approach MoominValley and any of its inhabitants.”

“And why would we do that?” The person said smugly.

“Would your god really be satisfied if you sacrificed an unwilling child?” Snufkin asked, trying to sound confident. “Wouldn’t it be better to have a willing sacrifice?”

There was a moment of quiet, quickly replaced as the figures around him started to look at each other, mumbling quietly between themselves. Snufkin continued to stare at the person in front of him, feeling them staring back at him thoughtfully.

Snufkin could tell that he’d done the right thing, if he could convince them to stay away from the Valley, from his home, his family, even if it meant he couldn’t see them again, then it would be alright.

“Fine.” The person in front of him sighed, seemingly annoyed at that but apparently willing to accept it. “I suppose you are right. I accept your proposition.”

Snufkin felt his heart in his throat, fear becoming harder to keep inside, but he did his best to stay calm and stoic in front of them.

“Do you promise on your god’s name to not go back to MoominValley?” He pushed as the figure stepped towards him, reaching out with one hand in a gesture to tell the mumrik to follow them.

“You’re quite the clever one, I see.” The person laughed, retreating his hand and placing it over his heart. “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked that first chapter! Do tell us what you thought about it, we'd be happy to know!
> 
> Did Snufkin just accepted to get sacrificed in exchange of his saving his family? Hell yeah he did!  
> What could possibly happy to his bag and his hat after he left them there though? Who knows? :3c
> 
> The next one will be done by our dear Max! You'll see it will be amazing ;P


	2. The Investigation

Despite what Moomin would tell her, Snorkmaiden knew Snufkin wasn't perfect. He had flaws like everyone else and sometimes he was late coming back to Moominvalley in the spring. He'd accidentally wander further than he intended, causing him to arrive a few days late.  
He'd get sick or spring would arrive earlier than he expected. There were plenty of reasons Snufkin would be late.

Snorkmaiden just wished Moomin would understand that. Each year Snufkin was even slightly late, Moomin just made himself miserable. He'd spend hours just sitting on their bridge, just waiting for him.

The later Snufkin was, the worst Moomin got. He'd forget to eat or sleep purely out of fear of missing out on getting to see Snufkin the moment he arrived. And this year, it was particularly awful.

It had been two weeks since spring had begun and there hadn't been a hint of Snufkin arriving anytime soon. Snufkin had been a couple days late before, sure, but he had never been this late. And Moomin was starting to get sick.

Moominmamma had basically had to drag him back inside as he had started to catch a cold. And, well, being Moominmamma, she had made sure he was tucked safely into his bed despite his claims he'd be fine as soon as Snufkin came.

“I'm just so worried about him,” Mamma said with a sigh one day. Moomin had tried to sneak out the window to go looking for him.

Snorkmaiden knew she had to do something. Moomin was her best friend and she wasn't going to let him get himself killed. She wouldn't let him be miserable over a guy like that. She of all people knew how unhealthy that was.

Snorkmaiden knew exactly what she had to do. She had to find Snufkin. She'd give him a real piece of his mind for making Moomin miserable!

Of course, Snork tried to stop her. He said she was too pretty and dainty to go out into the forest looking for him, to which Snorkmaiden responded by stepping on her brother's foot and quickly getting an apology out of him.

He still didn't want her to go, though.

But she was an independent, young snork and she didn't need her brother’s permission to do things. She packed a backpack and snuck out during the night. She was looking for Snufkin.

She headed out into the woods, slightly on edge. She had never really been the type to get her nails dirty, and she worried about what could happen to her if there actually was anything out there. She most definitely didn't know what to do when attacked by a bear.

But she also couldn't worry about things like that, not too much. Moomin was making himself miserable and she had to give Snufkin a piece of her mind.

He knew Moomin would react like this! He should know better than to just disappear without warning!

She did her best to stay on the trail, not wanting to get lost. Moomin didn't need two of his best friends going missing!

Eventually she found footprints, although they clearly weren't from Snufkin. A group of three or so people had been standing there and talking. It seemed like they had been heading towards Moominvalley before suddenly turning to investigate something.

Snorkmaiden was hesitant to follow the footprints. She didn't want to know what would happen if those people were still around, but she had a sick feeling in her gut following them was a clue to Snufkin.

So, carefully, she followed the tracks to find that they led to Snufkin's hat and backpack, but no Snufkin. He was never seen without his hat! And, looking through his backpack, he had just left everything there!

Carefully, she picked up his hat and bag heading back to the Moominhouse. Something had happened to Snufkin and she didn't want to stick around to be the next victim.

She ran to the Moominhouse quickly, wasting no time. She felt mildly guilty for waking up the moomins in the wee hours of the morning, but this was important! Snufkin could be hurt!

“OH, MOOMIN FAMILY COME QUICK! IT’S TERRIBLE!” she yelled frantically, running to the moomins, Snufkin's hat and bag clutched tightly in her paws.

Moomin slowly poked his head out the window to see what all the ruckus was about.

“Good Tove, Snorkmaiden! It's five in the morning!”

“I'm so sorry, Moomin. I hate to wake you, but it's important! Something has happened to Snufkin!”

Moomin’s ears perked up at the mention of his dear friend's name. “Snufkin! You know what happened to him?”

She shook her head no. “I’m afraid not. I was really worried for you, though! I decided to go looking for him,” she lifted up Snufkin's hat, “and I found his hat and bag! Completely abandoned!”

“That most definitely is very much unlike Snufkin,” said Moominmamma, opening the front door so the children wouldn't have to yell, for she and Moominpappa had been woken up with Moomin.

“He's always protective of his hat! Oh, Mamma, what if something terrible happened?” said Snorkmaiden, running up to the porch of the Moominhouse.

“Let's not jump to conclusions, dear. For all we know, Snufkin could simply have taken off his hat to take a bath,” said Mamma, trying to reassure the frightened children.

“If he was taking a bath, wouldn't he have also taken off his tunic?” pointed out Moominpappa.

“We have to help him!” said Moomin. “He could be in danger!”

Snorkmaiden nodded. “We need to form a rescue mission!”

“Now, let's be careful, children,” said Pappa. “Let's not rush into anything. If the worst is true and something captured Snufkin of all people, well, we shouldn't rush into things.”

Moomin looked at his father with complete and utter shock. “Are you kidding me? I thought you were supposed to be an adventurer!”

“I am!” Pappa said confidently, most likely taking offense that Moomin would think otherwise.

“What your father is trying to say, is that we don't want to risk any of you getting hurt,” explained Moominmamma.

“But they could be hurting Snufkin right now!” opposed Snorkmaiden.

“We don't know that…” said Mamma, unable to hide the concern for the young mumrik in her voice. “One child has already gone missing. Please, I don't know what I would do if that happened to another.”

Snorkmaiden rolled her eyes. This was completely ridiculous. They couldn't let Snufkin just suffer like this!

She knew what she had to do. And Snork would have to get used to her sneaking out a bit more. She had to help her friend!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's up gamers it's ya boi max dropping chapter on y'all here's snorkmaiden being a strong independent woman next chapter is mango i think they'll have fun with it ;)


	3. The cult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin arrives at the cult and learns more about their intentions.  
> Too bad he couldn't escape before.
> 
> (tw: violence and abuse)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I finally got to finish that chapter!
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy.

Snufkin coughed as he was pushed inside, the ropes around his chest pulling tight and cutting the air out of him for a second before it released. The group came inside as well, pulling him back up to his feet. They ordered him around, scolding him for being so clumsy.

On their way to their base, Snufkin, who’d been following them quietly and willingly, although still trying to figure out what he should do to get out without putting the Valley in danger, had heard them talking.

They must have thought that he couldn’t hear them, or that he was asleep, so they’d started to talk about asking for another group to go back to the Valley to continue what they had planned first. It seemed that they weren’t all agreeing, however, as some pointed out that they were all supposed to be present for each sacrifice. They seemed to know that Snufkin wouldn’t be fooled forever, once they would be at their base, they knew that if they made him wait until they got the other first, he wouldn’t be fooled.

“He’s just a stupid kid!” one had argued. “It doesn’t matter if he finds out! We’ll just force him to accept it!”

“It’s not like he could stop us even if he tried,” another had agreed. “He’s all alone against all of us, and we’re much stronger than him.”

“You should never underestimate anybody,” another, that Snufkin recognized as the one that had talked with him the first time and had proved himself to be the leader, had countered. “We don’t even know why he was in the forest so far away from the Valley. We should be careful.”

“But what about the others, then?” someone had asked.

“We’ll sacrifice him first,” the leader had replied, his tone strict as an order. “We’ll get the others after. We all need to be present for the ritual to work and, with luck, whoever could be searching for him will give up before we arrive so we’ll look less suspicious. Even better, we might be able to use that to our advantage.”

“What do you mean?” someone else had asked, curiosity clear in their voice as the others stayed silent, listening for more.

“We could convince them to come pray with us and that our god will help them find him again, and then we could make sure they all join us for good and accept our god as theirs. Or, we could tell them one of us rescued him a while ago to convince them to come.”

“But how could you make sure they would all come?”

“I’m sure if we pretend that he’s in a really bad condition and wanted to see everyone, maybe for the last time, they’d obey,” the leader had said, an edge to his voice indicating that he was enjoying the idea a lot.

Snufkin hadn’t dared to stay long enough to figure out what they would decide. He immediately tried to escape, managing to get out of the camp they had set up and running into the forest.

He had been so scared.

He’d ran away as quickly as he could, trying his best to not fall in his panic. He’d thought that he could make it back to MoominValley if he could lose them in the forest. But there were too many of them, and he was tired from his trip south and the days of walking with them.

They’d quickly caught up with him, and managed to grab him. They’d known that it was too late to keep up the appearance and had immediately tied him up. His arms had been tied to his body, hands tied together on his back. Only his legs were free.

They’d tried to resonate with him, tried to manipulate him to drive him to agree with their cause, but he was much too stubborn, too aware of what they’d planned, to let them influence him anymore. 

They had continued to walk while making Snufkin walk in the middle as to make sure he wouldn’t try to run away again. They kept an eye on him at all times, taking turns to watch over him in the night, and they’d put a gag on him, just in case he tried to scream, until they’d arrived at their base.

Their base looked like an old rundown building, far away from everything and hidden far away in the woods. There seemed to be a lot of rooms, Most of them were too damaged to be used for anything, but some were turned into some sort of dorms. In the center of the building was a large room with a sort of stone table with strange writings and shapes on the floor around it.

Snufkin could feel chills running down his spine, fear rising more as he realized what the room was.

They were trying to show him around, explaining how they lived in there, all helping each other every day. They tried to explain to him how they had their god looking after them and protecting them from all kinds of things. How, if they offered them a sacrifice, the bigger the better, they would receive his protection, them and all the people concerned by the sacrifice and praying to them.

They made a point to bring up multiple times how safe they were and how their god would protect anyone as long as they had a nice and willing sacrifice. They even pointed out a few times how he’d been willing to be the sacrifice to protect the Valley at first, and how he would be able to earn protection for them easily if he just accepted it again.

Snufkin, although the offer of protection for the Valley was tempting, kept on refusing, knowing that it would still cost the lives of some of his friends. He wouldn’t allow them to hurt anybody, no matter what. Somehow, knowing that his opposition to being sacrificed now was bothering them in their plan was very satisfying for the mumrik.

If he could just buy enough time, maybe…

No, he couldn’t let his hopes rest on his friends. They probably still thought that he was on his way back, just later than usual, and wouldn’t think anything about his disappearance. The thought broke his heart, old fears of being forgotten and replaced in their hearts coming back to him and filling him with newfound determination to find a way to escape.

At first, they just kept him tied up in one of the bedrooms, still trying to convince him to join them and accept his fate. They tried their best for days on end, trying to manipulate his thoughts as they brought up his dear ones, his family, mentioning how much their life would get better if he allowed it to happen, how they would make sure their god would protect them for him.

But he never accepted. He kept his position, fighting every day to get away.

He’d tried multiple times to get out, loosening his bonds enough to slip away until someone noticed him. He’d fight every time they tied him back again, struggling to get away from their restricting hands and to run away from them all.

Once, he even managed to get outside, not long enough to run into the woods surrounding them however, as they’d caught him just before he could get to the entrance, dragging him back inside and throwing him against a wall.

They’d stopped trying to convince him nicely from then.

“Since the nice way doesn’t work on you, we’ll have to take drastic measures,” the leader had said that day, pulling him by the scarf and holding him up against the wall. “You did this to yourself. You shouldn’t have been so stubborn.”

Snufkin couldn't respond, his gag stopping him from forming any words and the feeling of being held up strangling him. He wanted to protest, but he couldn’t. He could barely breathe.

“Put him into the confinement room,” he said as he violently threw Snufkin back to the ground at the feet of the others, “and do anything you need to do to convince him. We have all the time we need to make this pest change its mind.” He grinned cruelly at the poor mumrik, who was shaking and coughing through his gag at the pain in his body. 

Two of them took hold of his arms, dragging the still struggling mumrik through the damaged and dusty hallway. He tried, as much as his painful body would allow him, to fight against it, to free himself from their hold, but their grips were much too strong on his arms, so much that it was sure to bruise.

Once again, he found himself being thrown against the wall, inside a small room, somehow looking much more damaged and dusty than any of the ones he’d seen so far. He gasped for air, willing the pain away as the door slammed shut behind him, causing dust to fly around the darkened room and make it harder for him to breathe.

He could hear them mocking him from behind the door before walking away. Snufkin tried to sit up, still coughing. As he did so, he noticed something.

They hadn’t tied him back this time.

He was still tied up, but unlike all the other times he’d tried to escape after loosening his bonds, they’d forgotten to tight him back up. Snufkin, although still in pain, found hopes flooding his body once again.

Maybe… If he could just get untied… He could…

He tried again and again, struggling to get free. Eventually he managed to free his hands. He tried to untie the rope around his arms but failed. It didn’t matter how much he tried, this one was much too tight. As he kept trying, he only managed to make it worse.

He didn’t know how long he’d tried to get free from the rope themselves, and he couldn’t tell what time it was, as he was stuck in this confinement room, without any window, the only light coming from the little crack under the door.

He didn’t want to give up yet. He tried to push at the door, as much as he could with his still tied arms. He tried again and again, banging against the door as he started to feel more and more trapped, the realization of being trapped in a room making him suffocate, the walls closing in on him already. 

He could hear voices from the other side mocking him. 

“You’ll never get out of here unless you stop fighting,” one had said, laughing cruelly.

“Come on, accept it! Don’t you want them all to be happy? What would they think of you if they saw you?” another one urged.

“You’re so pathetic. How could anyone even care if we sacrificed you?” someone huffed.

“You should accept our offer. I can guarantee that you don’t want to see what else we’ve got in reserve to convince you,” the leader had teased before leading the others away.

He was stuck.

Snufkin laid there, sprawled on the dusty floor. His body hurt so much, the side that he’d used to try and force the door open numb. His vision was becoming blurry, tears pooling his eyes and rolling down his cheeks without his permission. He desperately tried to catch his breathing, trying to ignore the way the walls were closing in on him, how heavy the air was, how the dust was making him feel sick as he laid there.

He couldn’t believe it. No, he couldn’t believe it.

How could he be so careless?

Because of his clumsiness, he’d been spotted by them and couldn’t even manage to properly run away. He was a vagabond, for Tove’s sake! He’d been through so much on the road already, he’d escaped so many things in the past, when he had nowhere and no one to come back to! How could he let himself be captured now?

Frustrated and terrified, Snufkin felt exhaustion overcome his body. He feared what would happen if he fell asleep, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. He’d already tired himself out from trying to get away and to breathe again. His eyes fell shut despite his best effort, the darkness of restless sleep slowly swallowing him.

As he felt himself sinking, he thought about his dear Moomin and all his friends, about his family, the one that adopted him and the one that he finally found. 

He hoped they could forgive him for not making it back this year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading until now. Hope you liked it so far.  
> Next part's on Max :3
> 
> Poor Snufkin, I really like to make him go through hard times... Hope Moomin and the other will do something about it.
> 
> Anyway, big thanks to Lex for helping me fix this chapter when I couldn't get my shit together enough to do it myself. Lex is our life savior I swear!


	4. The Men in Robes

“I dont see why we have to be dragged into this!” Sniff whined once Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden had explain explained Snufkin's mysterious disappearance to him, “i mean if something is able to capture Snufkin of all people its most definitely scary”

Moomin frowned “but Sniff what if something really bad happens to him!”

“What if something really bad happens to me!”

Little My hit him on the back of the head “dont be a dick Sniff”

“Little My!” said Snorkmaiden raising her voice slightly “Langue!” 

The short Mymble stuck her tongue out at the Snork, “My brother might be dead! Ill cuss as much as i fucking want!” 

Sniff quickly covered his ears the moment the possibility of death was brought up whimpering still

“D-dead???” he cried, clearly panicked by the situation his tail wagging anxiously”

Moomin awkwardly put his arm on Sniff's shoulder not really knowing how to comfort him, “you can't say things like that little my!”

She tutted at moomin “what are we just supposed to pretend that everything is okay! That snufkin just so happened to forget to grab his most valued possessions?”

“Well uhh snufkin was never one for material possessions”

“Do you really think he’d abandon his hat and harmonica!”

“Well…”

“Something is clearly fucking wrong Moomin! We can't just dance around the issue and hope everything is fine!”

Snorkmaiden slammed her paws down on the table annoyed “will you stop it little my! I know you're worried about Snufkin but we have to do something!”

“What? Are you going to do something? You gonna go on some great quest to save him?” she asked sarcasticly 

“Yes. i am actually.” snorkmaiden said confidently.

“What! So you can also get killed and i'll lose you too!” little my yelled moomin just noticing she was holding back tears.

“L-little my” snorkmaiden stuttered clearly caught off guard by little mys worry.

Sniff laughed “so she does have feelings eh?” witch snorkmaiden quickly responded with a punching sniff in the face.

Not wanting a full on brawl to break out Moomin quickly grabbed snorkmaiden pulling her back. Honestly he was caught off guard he definitely didn't think she had been the type to start a fight. He had gotten so accustomed to her girly and innocent persona. Had he misjudged her?

“Owww” sniff whined holding his paw to his nose, where snorkmaiden had hit him “what was that for”

“For being so rude to little my!” Snorkmaiden yelled wiggling in Moomins' grasp.

Little my rolled her eyes “i'm more than capable of fighting my own battles i don't need you to do it for me you know”

Snorkmaiden sighed, “fine, i just didnt want him treating you like shit you know”

Little My laughed “oh please he's just trying to mimic my classic little my shit talking style but of course nothing is as good as the original” she said her voice flowing with confidence 

Moomin didn't really understand why snorkmaiden was being so nice to the mymble. For as long as moomin had known her little my she had nothing but harass and bully him. So for someone as kind and beautiful to waste her time on her seemed ridiculous to him. But of course moomin also didn't understand why just the call of snufkin's name made him a flutter.

Snorkmaiden smirked “ooh i have a wicked idea” she said glancing over at sniff

Little My jumped up next to her “Well then dont just tease us! Tell it to us! I personally love a good wicked scheme”

Sniff didn't like how snorkmaiden was looking at him “i don't! I'm sure snufkin's fine! No need to get brash!”

Snorkmaiden slowly walked up to him putting her finger on Sniffs' chest “I say to make up for how you treated little my. you go into the forest and see if you can find anything else at the scene Snufkin disappeared at”

Little My smiled “Yes! I bet we can find waaaaaaay more creepy evidence at night then you would during the daytime”

“But i don't wanna see anything creepy” sniff cried

Moomin tired to intervene “geez don't you guys think- well that- that's a bit cruel”

“He said my brother is dead!l” little my yelled once again starting to tear up.

“W-well i know but…” 

Snorkmadien calmly put her hand on moomins shoulder speaking to him in a whisper “don't worry i won't let him get actually hurt at all”

“Oh moomin please don't make me do it! I couldn't stand seeing anything scary!”

Moomin sighed looking down at Sniff pitifully “fine… Sniff go investigate where we found Snufkins things”

“Moomin no i dont wanna go i-”

But it was too late

Little my was already pushing sniff out of the door”

Out of all the things to do on a saturday night, hunting for what could be snufkin's corpse was far from anything that sniff wanted to be doing. If he had a list of things he didn't want to be doing right now, searching for snufkin in a scary forest was definitely number one on that list.

Careful with every step, sniff slowly walked along the forest path. trying his hardest to not run away screaming with every little montion in the forest.

paralyzed with fear, Sniff hadn't exactly been paying full attention to the directions to were snufkin's belongings had been found by snorkmaiden. and very easily ran the risk of getting lost. witch didn't exactly help calm his nerves.

walking on his tippy toes he headed into a clearing witch allowed him to see the moon for the first time since he had entered the forest. before he could double check and see if this was the location Snorkmaiden had described, he head something.

whispering.

it was to faint for Sniff to properly make out what they where saying but honestly he didn't want to. it was creepy roughly twenty voices softly whispering over each other.

a hooded figure illuminated by the moonlight.

Sniff did not know what they wanted but he did not like the look of them. quickly not wanting to be a victim of whatever nefarious actions these people had shiff ran. he ran faster than he ever had before. he had to warn everyone! they were all going die! They were all going to kidnapped by cultists and have their intestines eaten! 

the valley was in danger!


	5. Follow Your Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sniff tells everyone what he saw and the group decides on what they should do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for some more?  
> Here's the next chapter :3

“Oh, shut up! You big baby!” Little My yelled at Sniff. “You didn’t even find anything!”

“But I told you! I saw them!” Sniff whined. “There were about twenty of them! They’ll come here and kill us all! Just like they killed Snufkin!”

“Don’t you say that!” Little My said angrily as she bit Sniff’s leg. “My brother isn’t dead! He’s out there somewhere and we need to help him!”

“My is right,” Snorkmaiden said sternly. “Snufkin isn’t dead. He needs our help.”

“But there are way too many of them! What if they’re armed? They’ll just kill us and throw our bodies away and nobody will ever find us!” Sniff cried, wrapping his arms around himself as he shivered in pure terror.

“You said you didn’t see them all,” Moomin pointed out. “Maybe there were only a few of them.”

“I told you! There were at least twenty of them!” Sniff replied.

“You didn’t see them all, I don’t think there would be anyone traveling in groups of twenty anyway,” Moomin waved off, trying his best not to show his worry.

“But we should tell MoominMamma and MoominPappa before they attack us!” Sniff pressed. “We need to warn everyone!”

“Warn us about what?” MoominPappa asked as he made his way in the room. “Now what’s all this about? It’s quite late, shouldn’t you be going home?”

“MoominPappa! It’s terrible!” Sniff cried again, running to embrace the older moomin. “They’re those people in the forest! And they’re coming to kill us all! I’ve seen them! There’s at least twenty of them!” 

“Now, now, calm down, Sniff." MoominPappa patted Sniff’s back awkwardly. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“But I’ve seen them!” Sniff insisted.

“Now, I’m sure it’s just some fellow travelers that decided to camp in the forest. It’s really nothing to worry about,” MoominPappa reassured.

“But they-” Sniff tried but was cut off.

“I have to get back to my memoirs now," MoominPappa announced as he made his way towards the stairs. “Don’t stay out too late.”

“But they’re coming,” Sniff continued in disbelief.

“I think Pappa is right,” Moomin said, nervously playing with his tail. “I’m worried about Snufkin, but I think they’re probably just travelers like Pappa said.”

“But there were so many of them!” Sniff whined.

“You said you didn’t see all of them,” Snorkmaiden pointed out. “There probably were only a few of them, not twenty.”

“Maybe we should forget about searching for Snufkin for today,” Moomin suggested quietly, not looking at any of them. “Maybe we’ll find more clues to where he is tomorrow.”

“And leave him in possible danger?” Little My exclaimed in disbelief. “No way!”

“My…” Moomin mumbled. “I know you’re worried about Snufkin. I am, too. But I don’t think going out in the night like that is a good idea. We should wait until morning and go back there to see if we can find anything.”

“You’re just too scared to go out at night!” Little My accused. “You’re just a coward!”

“I think we should wait until morning, too,” Snorkmaiden said hesitantly. “We might make things worse if we go now.”

“But what about those people?” Sniff asked, shaking from fear. “What if they come during the night?”

“They won’t come, Sniff,” Snorkmaiden huffed. “They’re probably just camping in the forest, they have nothing to do to us.”

“Maybe it’s a cult!” Little My said blankly.

“A what?!” Moomin replies in disbelief. “You’re just trying to scare us!”

“Sniff said there were a lot of them. What proves you it isn’t a dangerous group of sort? Like a cult?” Little My argued, crossing her arms and tapping her foot with impatience.

“Why would anyone like that come around Moomin Valley?” Moomin argued back. “The chances of those people being a dangerous cult is as likely as you being nice for once!”

“Either way,” Snorkmaiden interrupted them, “We need to go home now. It’s really late. We’ll try to find more clues in the morning, it’s too dangerous at night.”

“But-” Sniff wanted to argue. “We can’t split up. Those people are going to come kill us.”

“Sniff, they are not going to kill us,” Snorkmaiden stated shortly. “We have to go home. If you don’t want to go now you can go later, all alone in the dark.”

“No!” Sniff cried. “I’ll come! I’ll come! I can’t possibly leave a girl to walk back home alone in the night after all.” He tried to look brave.

“Sure.” Snorkmaiden rolled her eyes, annoyed at him. “Let’s go.” She started to walk towards the door but stopped in front of it. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said to the remaining two in the room before making her way out, followed by Sniff, running after her nervously.

“We have to go check who they are!” Little My continued to argue even after half of them left. “What if they did something to Snufkin? Don’t you care even a little about him?”

“Enough, My!” Moomin snapped, voice shaking. “I care about Snufkin! A lot! And I know you’re worried about him too! But, it’s too dangerous to go out at night with strangers in the forest! And, besides, Snufkin knows how to take care of himself, so I’m sure he’s probably fine.”

“You’re just too afraid of the dark! That’s all! You’re just a coward!” she barked back at him.

“If you’re so worried about who those men are, why don’t you go out alone and see for yourself?!” Moomin spat. “You can tell us what you found in the morning! But don’t complain when you find out that you couldn’t find anything in the dark and that those people were just travelers like Pappa said!”

“Fine!” Little My exclaimed in frustration. “If you’re not going to do anything to find my brother, then I’ll do it by myself! Don’t come crying to me when I find him. If he’s hurt, it’ll be your fault!”

With that, Little My ran out, ignoring the calls of Moomin, who seemed to suddenly have realized that he shouldn’t have suggested she goes out alone and was worried she would get herself in trouble.

She ran for a while, frustration and worry making her teary. She finally stopped when she was sure Moomin wasn’t following her to take back her breath and think about her options.

On one hand, she knew they were right. It would be dangerous to go investigate at night, even more now that they knew there were people in the forest. But, on the other hand, she couldn’t leave her brother in possible danger. She had the feeling, in her guts, that something had happened to him and that she had to be fast.

She had to admit that she was scared. The idea of people out there, in the forest, close to where they’d found Snufkin’s bag and hat, made her afraid. Something was telling her that Sniff’s whining wasn’t necessarily entirely wrong. She didn’t know why she felt that way, she just knew. Maybe some would call it a sister’s sixth instinct, but for her it didn’t matter. Her brother was out there somewhere and he needed her.

With a renewed resolve, she started to walk again towards the spot where Sniff had seen the group of men in robes. If her instinct was anything to go by, she should be able to find some sort of clues of her brother’s whereabouts there.

As she walked, she really hoped that they’d been right to assume Sniff had been overreacting about the number of them, that there weren’t really twenty of them back there, as it would be hard to not be noticed by so many of them and she would have no chances against them. She would have to be careful.

It took her a moment to figure out where she was going in the dark, as she, unlike her brother, didn’t have night vision. When she finally reached the spot, she found out that there is indeed a group of men in robes there.

She dived behind bushes and tried to listen to them, observing them. She would lie if she said she wasn’t relieved to see that Sniff had been overreacting, as always, on the number of them. There were about ten men there, talking to each other around a small fire. Their tents were up behind them, letting her guess that they planned on spending the night there.

As she listened, she could hear a few of them talking. It wasn’t clear. They were too far and talking too quietly for her to make out everything. She managed to get out that they were part of a group, A cult! I was right! she thought in horror, and that they were heading to an important place, probably their base. They seemed to be upset about something although she couldn’t get out what.

She thought it was all she could get that night and was ready to go back to MoominHouse to try and rest, but only after waking up Moomin and telling him what she’d seen and heard, but there was a sudden movement that made her stilled.

For a short moment, she was sure she’d been spotted and they were coming to get her, but when she looked back to the group, she could see that one of the men had gotten up. She heard him announce that he was going to go ahead of them to make sure everything was alright and to tell the others of their arrival. The others seemed to debate for a moment but ultimately agreed and waved him off as the man walked off into the forest by himself.

This is it. Little My thought. If I follow that guy I’m sure I can find Snufkin!

She slowly, carefully, made her way behind the man, making sure not to be seen by any of the other men, and started to follow him. The man wasn’t fast but, at least, it was better than to stay at home waiting for something to happen. She had to be sneaky, following from behind bushes, and she was tired, but she wasn’t about to give up. If her little brother needed her, she wasn’t about to abandon him.

With that in mind, she walked silently through the forest, behind a strange man in a dark robe, towards an unknown place that, hopefully could help her figure out what had happened to her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this one!
> 
> I hope you're enjoying it so far. Big thanks to Lex for reading it for me and helping me posting it. The next part will be on our dear Max.
> 
> This one was interesting to write. I think it's the first time i write such a long dialogue and argument. Little My just knows something is up but everyone else is just trying to wave it off, who wouldn't want to believe their friend is safe somewhere else after all. And Pappa is just so focused on his memoirs he can't deal with any of this right now, it's too much responsibility for him X)
> 
> Now, who knows what Little My will find next ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	6. Secret Observer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little My follow the man to an old building.
> 
> What could be inside? Why did they come here? What will she find there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait.
> 
> Sadly this collab will now only be written by myself as my friend Max cannot continue it for personal reasons.  
> Thankfully we had planned everything we were supposed to write so the plot will stay the same as we had planned with Max's touch in there.
> 
> Anyway, on with the fic!

Little My had been following him for a few hours now. The man still hadn’t noticed her presence yet, and she was hoping that he would never find out. The man had been going on for a while without stopping and even Little My, as resourceful as she was, was starting to get tired. She was hoping wherever this guy was going, he would reach his destination soon.

Thankfully for her, after some more time walking through the forest, they reached an old, runned down, building. It looked abandoned from what she could see on the outside but there was a distant noise from the inside, voices.

The man stopped in front of the building and knocked on the old door. It looked so fragile, Little My was sure she could break it without even using any force.

She stayed hidden behind a bush and a tree, peering out to watch the man as he waited patiently. Then, the door opened. Slightly at first, then it opened fully to let the man in. Little My couldn’t see anyone from where she was but she had to wait until the door was shut again to make a move, not wanting to tempt fate and get caught.

She waited a little longer after the door shut, to make sure whoever opened it wasn’t behind it anymore, before taking her chance. She got out from behind the bush and made her way to the building. She didn’t even try to open the door, knowing that someone would hear it and she’d get caught, instead making her way immediately to one of the dusty windows.

She crouched down under the window, taking her time to listen for any voices coming from inside. When she was sure the voices weren’t coming from anywhere close to this window, she peeked in, scanning quickly the room.

There was nobody inside. The room was full of old and rusty hospital beds, medical equipment and bags, that seemed to look fairly new in the middle of all the old and rusty furnitures of the room.

There was no trace of Snufkin having been in there. In fact she had no proof that they had anything to do with Snufkin’s disappearance. Still it was a better guess than him just disappearing out of nowhere and leaving his things behind, which was really uncharacteristic for him.

She sighed before making her way to the next window. She needed to find something, anything, any indication that her brother was there. She had to check all the windows to make sure he wasn’t in one of the rooms. She needed to know what had happened to him.

She had a bad feeling about all this.

One by one, she check all the windows, sneaking around the outside of the building. She couldn’t find anything. Most rooms she peeked in where empty, some with old hospital beds, some with medical equipments, some with old files spread out on the floor. In a few room, there was bags and sleeping bags.

But still no trace of Snufkin…

Then, finally, she saw something through one of the windows.

She peeked in through a window that seemed to show a hallway of the building. At first, she quickly crouched back down, as she noticed someone in the hallway and didn’t want them to see her, then she carefully peeked in again.

Someone was at a door, they seemed to be angry for some reason and talking to someone in the room in front of them. She didn’t understand what they were saying at first, but, as she focused to hear, she could make out their words.

“You ungrateful brat!” They were yelling at whoever was inside the room. “You should be honored to have been chosen! Father accepted to take you and now you’re refusing to cooperate?! How dare you!”

“Hey!” Little My quickly hid as another figure came in. “Stop that brother. We need him to be willing for it to work. I’m sure he’ll agree soon.”

“Another lesson can’t hurt…” He replied coldly.

“Yeah.” 

She watched as the nodded to each other, a cruel, cold, smile on their face. They reached down to grab something. Then, Little My stared in shock as they pinned her brother against the opposite wall violently, his head smashing against it with force.

She was shocked, horrified at the sight of her brother, bruised and beaten up, blood covering his face and staining his clothes. He looked frail, so weak. He seemed to be struggling to get air in after the impact. Tears were running down his cheeks, soaking his gag. His hands and legs were tied up with a ropes that seemed to be tight.

Then, as she was taking in the sight of her brother, one of the men started to kick him in the stomach while the other held him against the wall, laughing as the other continued. Snufkin gasped, moaning pitifully as the pain increased with each strike. He coughed blood, dripping down his mouth and soaking onto the gag and his clothes, his yellow scarf now covered in blood.

“It would be much better for you if you just stopped resisting.” One of them teased. “Just give up and let us do the sacrifice already. You’d be much happier that way.”

“Didn’t you want to protect your friends?” The other spat at him. “What a coward. To say that you wanted to protect them before refusing. If you don’t accept what will happen to them, huh? You know you can’t protect them if you don’t accept to give your life to us.”

“You just have to accept and it will all be over soon.”

“Give up already.”

Snufkin was choking onto his own blood now, tears streaming down his face. His eyes were shut tight, painful expression covering his bruised up face as he tried to breath. His body was shaking through the pain.

“How could anyone even like him.” One of the men mocked as he turned to the other.

“They probably don’t.” The other laughed cruelly. “They just pity him.”

“You’re right.” He huffed. “who could be friend with a filthy vagabond. A dirty mumrik.”

Little My could swear to have noticed the tears on her brother’s face flowing faster, his breathing getting faster and his body shaking more. She wished she could do something, anything, to stop them from hurting him any further, but she was stuck. She was paralysed, the shock of what she was witnessing and the knowledge that the building was full of those people, making it impossible for her to act without getting captured as well, keeping him from moving an inch.

She had to do something. Anything.

“I think that’s enough for now.” Another man intervened from a doorway. “We don’t want to kill him before the ritual. We need him alive for now, until the sacrifice.”

“Yes, sorry Father.” The two men apologized.

“Then, let’s get him back in his cell.”

With that, they threw him inside the room again. And, with one last kick to his face this time, they closed the door on him. They both laughed as they went to join their ‘Father’ in the other room.

Little My starred in the hallway for a while, still paralysed from the shock of what she’d seen. She couldn’t believe it. She had been right to be worried about him, but, now, she wished, with all her heart, that she’d been wrong.

How could this have happened?

After she’d recovered enough to think, she realized that she needed to run and get some help. And fast. She hurried back on the path she’d come from. She started running as soon as she was far enough from the building to not be seen nor heard from the people inside.

She had to tell the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoy the story, despite its dark parts.
> 
> I'm really sorry about the long waits between the chapters. I will try my best to have the next chapter up in about a week so you won't have to wait too long anymore.  
> I'm also sorry that Max couldn't continue the story. Don't worry, his fine but he cannot work on this anymore, therefore I will take the parts he was supposed to write, just like this one, and make them myself. 
> 
> I also hope it isn't too dark for you all. I like dark fics but I'm aware this might be a bit much. Hopefully you can still enjoy this fic.  
> Don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts in the comments.


	7. An Unexpected Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joxter was just walking back to the Valley when he meets a scared and very panicked Little My.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes our favorite mumrik father!

The Joxter was casually walking toward MoominValley. He had been South with Snufkin for a while before they parted ways so Snufkin could get time for himself. He’d promised to come back a little after his son but couldn’t wait to be back in the Valley in company of his son and his step-daughters.

He was walking through the night, impatient to get back and unable to sleep. It was unusual for him to be restless but he shrugged it off. He thought he just missed the Valley too much, after all, ever since he found out about his son he couldn’t help but want to stay in the Valley as long as possible to spend as much time as possible with Snufkin.

That night, he had decided to keep walking instead of trying to sleep. As much as he loved to sleep, he had to admit walking in the forest at night was quite enjoyable. It was so calm at night, all creatures gone to sleep leaving little noise behind.

He was really enjoying his walk, happy to be close to home, when, he heard a noise. He stopped, looking in the direction of the noise. He listened for a moment, trying to understand what he was hearing and determine if it was anything to be wary of.

Footsteps.

What he was hearing was running footsteps, and it was coming towards him. He hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not he should hide, sometimes meeting strangers on the road, even more when they are in a hurry and at night, could be dangerous, but, something in him told him he should wait there. Something told him that it was important for him to figure out who was running towards him and why they were in such a hurry.

What he wasn’t expecting was to see Little My running blindly to him. The time it took him to comprehend that it was really her and that she was crying and looked terrified, she came running into his legs, falling backward on her butt.

She snapped her head up, a horrified look on her face. Then, as she realized who she had run into, her face softened a little, more tears coming out of her eyes as she launched herself into Joxter’s arms.

“Now, now, whatever is the matter?” Joxter asked as he patted her back gently. He could feel a ball forming in the pit of his stomach, his throat tightening, as he started to wonder what on earth could have happened to her to leave her in such a state, and what she was doing so far from home in the middle of the night. “What are you doing out there so late?”

She couldn’t answer, crying way too much to form comprehensible words. He took the time to try to calm her down, hugging her until she could finally compose herself enough to explain herself.

“It’s horrible! JoxterPappa! You have to help us!” Little My cried out, her pleading eyes looking straight into Joxter’s feline ones. “Please! You need to help!”

“Now, please, calm down, Little Mymble.” Joxter said calmly. “What is wrong? What do you need my help with? Of course I’ll help. But I can’t if you don’t explain what’s going on to me first.”

Then, Little My took a long breath, willing herself to calm down a little. She went on to explain to Joxter what she was doing out there, how she had been worried about her brother’s disappearance and had found those people in the forest not too far from the Valley and had followed one of them to their hideout. She told him about what she saw back there and what she’d heard all of them say, about how they wanted to sacrifice him and every horrible things they said to hurt him more. It was hard to retell everything, but, between gasps and cries, she managed to tell him everything she knew.

“Show me where they are.” Joxter said coldly, standing up. “I’ll take care of them.”

Little My backed up from him a bit, looking at him with scared eyes. His eyes were looking passed her in the direction she’d been coming from. His look was dark. If a look could kill someone she was sure he would have killed all of them at that exact moment. He looked pissed off, like he was going to go feral any instant now. His mouth was open, teeth clenched tight, fangs showing dangerously.

“N- No.” Little My disagreed. “I- We need to tell the others.” She looked behind her again nervously. “We can’t go just by ourselves. There’s way too many of them.” 

“I don’t need help.” Joxter contered coldly. “I’ll take care of them all. I promise.”

“No.” She argued, tugging at his paw with her two paws and looking at him with pleading eyes. “Please. We need to tell the others first.”

Joxter looked at her for a moment, still ready to go all on out and go wherever his son was to rescue him on his own. But, after seeing how scared Little My was, and after looking into her pleading eyes, he couldn’t do anything but agree with her.

“Alright. Fine.” He sighed, trying to die down his own frustration. “Let’s go then.”

With that, Little My and him started towards the Valley again. She had told him about the group of people on the main road so he decided to take another path, less known, to avoid encountering them. He knew he could deal with them on his own, but, he didn’t want to scare Little My more.

It took a little longer than expected to get to the Valley than they had planned but, at least, they hadn’t encountered anyone on their way. They’d finally reached MoominHouse as the sun would start to show itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading until now :)   
> I hope you enjoy it so far!
> 
> Next chapter in about a week or so (whenever I remember in a week)!
> 
> Poor Little My is really scared and worried, Joxter probably would have never imagined anything like this happening when he was on his way back to the Valley.


	8. The plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Joxter and Little My go back to the Valley to warn the others.  
> Together they'll have to prepare their next move to save their friend from those horrible people that captured him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little late for my liking but here's the next chapter!
> 
> Enjoy!

Moomin had been having such a rough night, tossing and turning in his sleep as his dreams where plagued with nightmares of something happening to Snufkin. He wanted to convince himself that his friend was fine, but, even as he tried, he couldn’t help but have a bad feeling.

What if Little My had been right to worry?

This thought had haunt him all night, giving him many nightmares and making him wake up in the middle of the night.

When he woke up that next morning, it was from another nightmare. He found himself sitting, sweating, in his bed, sheets firmly clenched in his paws. He shook his head, trying to shake the nightmare away.

In this one, he had been in the forest, searching for his friend. He had found his possessions and had heard a group of people from farther away, and then, he’d heard Snufkin. His friend had been calling for him. He was asking, begging, him to come find him, to come save him. He sounded so uncharacteristically scared. The more Moomin tried to find him in the foggy forest, the more the fog intensified and Snufkin’s begging became more insistent. Then, just before he woke up, he’d heard Snufkin screaming, calling for help as he did, and then, nothing.

Moomin didn’t want to think about what the dreams could mean, about if they were any indication that something was very wrong with Snufkin’s disappearance. For now, he decided to go downstairs and see if breakfast was ready.

As he went down, Moomin hadn’t realized how early it was. The sun was barely showing itself and everyone was still sound asleep in the house. As he noticed this, and was ready to go back to bed, thinking that he could at least read something until MoominMamma woke up, he noticed something through one of the windows in the living room.

Little My was running toward the house, followed by a Joxter that was looking very serious, and somehow dangerous.

Moomin went to the door, greeting the small Mymble and the Joxter nervously. The look on Joxter’s face was already making him uncomfortable and creeped out.

“Good morning.” Moomin greeted awkwardly.

“Moomin. We need to save Snufkin!” Little My said in a hurry. To Moomin’s surprise, it looked as if she’d cried and she looked very worried and scared.

“W- What do you mean?” Moomin asked confused.

“They took him and they’re hurting him! You need to come help us!” Little My replied with a frustrated grunt. “Come on! We need to get the others! And you’re parents too!”

“What do you mean??” Moomin was only more confused but decided to agree with her, too scared of the look on Joxter’s face and what she was implying. “Okay, but my parents are still asleep.”

“No need to wake them up.” Joxter mumbled, sounding very frustrated and angry.

“Pappa didn’t believe us before. I don’t think he’d be a good help…” Moomin mumbled to himself.

“Fine. Then, let’s go get Snorkmaiden and Sniff.” Little My ordered.

Moomin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed, leading the way to Snorkmaiden’s house. He would have preferred to avoid it, but, after seeing Little My so agitated and Joxter’s death stare, he couldn’t go against them. And, after all, if Snufkin was really in danger, he had to help and go save him. He just hoped she was wrong.

After waking up Snorkmaiden and Sniff, and despite their reluctance, they all gathered in the forest. Little My explained everything she’d explained to Joxter to them, so they would understand what they were up against and why it was so urgent to go save her brother. Snorkmaiden and Sniff questioned why they didn’t asked for the police’s help or even Moomin’s parents, but after a small argument, it was ultimately decided that the police would be useless.

“We need a plan.” Snorkmaiden pointed out.

“Just let me take care of them.” Joxter muttered, annoyed.

“Snorkmaiden is right.” Little My pointed out, much calmer than before now that everybody was there. “We need to prepare a plan. There’s way too many of them for you to take care by yourself.”

“Fine.” Joxter huffed. He didn’t like to think much usually and he would have preferred to go blindly running in, but he had no choice but to come up with something now.

“Isn’t it t- too dangerous for u- us?” Sniff mumbled like the scaredy-cat he was. “W- What if they h- hurt us?”

“We need to save my brother.” Little My said firmly. 

“Sniff can be the lookout.” Joxter huffed.

“I can distract them.” Snorkmaiden proposed, as the brave snork she was. “I’ll pretend I’m lost and ask them for directions.” 

“It’s much too dangerous!” Moomin argued, worried for his friend.

Little My thought for a moment, not really happy with the idea of her friend having to be so close to them, but finally sighing. “Okay. You can be the distraction. Moomin can steal whatever weapon they could have, I’m pretty sure I saw a room where they were keeping them and there might be more in the room they were all staying in when I checked.”

Moomin frowned, not happy with the idea but, as he couldn’t come up with anything else, he sighed and agreed.

“Joxter and I will break in from behind and go free Snufkin.” Little My continued, now determined, a hint of anger overcoming the scared feeling from earlier.

“I’ll deal with them if needed.” Joxter affirmed, his eyes saying more than his words.

“Fine.” Little My nodded. “Everyone has a task now. We should go now.”

With that done, they all started to walk towards the base of the kidnappers. Little My led the way, ignoring Sniff’s constant babbling about how dangerous it was and how they shouldn’t do it.

They’re done for. We’re going to save my brother from them. I won’t let them hurt him anymore. This time I’m not alone. We’re going to save him and bring him back home. Little My thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading so far! i hope you enjoy!
> 
> Their plan is made. Is it a good one? Is it a good idea to have them all do something instead of allowing Joxter to go ape and free his son? Who knows :3 You'll have to wait until next week to see if the plan paid out or not.


	9. Interaction Engaged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for our Little group to put their plan to action!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell yeah! New chapter! 
> 
> It's time for some action!

Snorkmaiden knocked at the door of the old, runned down building. She nervously fidgeted with her tail as she waited. She needed to act natural if she wanted to convince them that she was lost, but, even though she was the one coming up with the idea, she was really scared now and really regretted to even have thought of that. Then again, she thought about Snufkin and about what Little My had said to have seen and heard. She couldn’t leave him behind like that. She had to be brave.

“What’s that?” Someone asked from behind the door. “I thought the others said they would wait in the forest.” 

“I don’t know.” Another voice replied. “I guess they got bored?”

“Guess we’ll see.” The other sighed.

Snorkmaiden almost choked as the door finally opened, letting her see two grown men, dressed in dark robes, standing in front of her. She was so scared, she was sure she could pass out then and there, but she swallowed and tried to regain her composure. She had to do it. For Snufkin.

“H- Hm- S- Sorry to bother you.” She mumbled nervously, trying her best to look like a scared and lost girl. “I- I’m lost an- and I need help.”

“Lost?” one of them repeated blankly.

“Y- Yes! I was on my way back home but I got chased by some horrible people that tried to rob me of everything I had! I can’t believe they even thought I had anything!” She huffed, getting a little more into her role, a little too much even. “I had to run away for hours to get away from them! Hours! And now I’m here! I don’t know where I’m at! I don’t know what’s the way home! Please! You have to help me!” She begged, giving them big pleading eyes.

The two looked at each other with a frown, before looking back at her.

“We can’t really help you. We are busy at the moment. How about you try to see if you can find any signs to let you know the way? We don’t really have time right now.” One of them answered, a wince in his voice as he watched her giving him the puppy eyes.

“B- But! You can’t possibly leave me! A beautiful, young, lady in distress, alone!” She continued to beg.

“... She started good… But now…” Joxter mumbled to himself, Little My agreeing silently with him. “Anyway. Alright! Sniff. You stay there and keep guard to see if anyone come around. Moomin you follow us, we'll help you get in, then you’ll steal their weapons and make sure they can’t have anything to hurt anyone. Alright?” He commanded.

Sniff, even though he continued to whine, and Moomin agreed. With that, Joxter, Little My and Joxter sneaked their way to the back of the building, trying to be fast as Snorkmaiden was winning time for them but overacting to the point they weren’t sure how long the two men would keep up with her.

Joxter, used to sneaking into places and happy to be able to use it at their advantage for once, made quick work of the back window, opening it carefully so it wouldn’t make any noise and alert the others of their presence.

“You go, Moomin.” Little My said, pushing him forward slightly. “The room where I saw the weapons should be the fifth one on the left, I think. Don’t get caught.” She ordered.

Moomin, feeling as if he was about to throw up from how nervous he was but determined to go through to save his best friend, nodded and started to make his slow way to the room, making sure to avoid making any noise.

“Where’s the room Snufkin’s in?” Joxter asked to the little mymble as they watched the poor moomin walking into the fifth room.

“The second one, just here.” She pointed at a door close to them. “But they doubled locked it.”

“Double lock or not this isn’t going to stop me.” Joxter announced as he started to make his way to the door.

As he started lockpicking it, Little My lingering behind him and watching around nervously, they heard a loud crash coming from one of the rooms further down the hallway. It was coming from the room Moomin was in. They then heard fast footsteps moving toward the hallways.

Knowing it was the people that were staying in the building that were coming to see what the commotion was, Joxter, who’d thankfully just finished unlocking the door to the room Snufkin was trapped in, told Little My to take care of her brother while he would go take care of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this fic so far! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Oh no! What could be happening with Moomin? :3 Who knows.
> 
> Will Snufkin be alright? Will he still be in the room Little My indicated to Joxter? Will Moomin and Snorkmaiden be fine?
> 
> Guess you'll have to wait another week to find out, maybe. :3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin wakes up to a lot of noises around him and his sister barging through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter up!
> 
> Will our favorite vagabond finally get rescued?

Everything hurt. His stomach felt as if it was constantly getting crushed every time he tried to move a muscle. His chest was much the same but more constant as he couldn’t breath in and out without the pain intensifying. The ropes on his legs and wrists were cutting through his skin despite him trying his best not to move. The bond in his mouth felt horribly wet and had the horrible taste of blood.

Everything. Hurt.

Snufkin wasn’t sure how long it had been, how long he’d been in there or how long since the last time they came to beat him up, to try to convince him to agree to get sacrificed. He didn’t even know if it was day or night out there, as he had no window to see the light from the outside world and couldn’t even rely on his ears as he could only hear the noises from inside the building, close to him, and the noise of his blood running through his ears. 

He wasn’t even sure how long he’d been awake now, time and consciousness were failing him. 

Everything was so dark, so dark and cold, and painful.

Every movement caused pain. Every ray of light coming through the door when it was opened so painfully blinding. Every word said to him stabbing him so hard he wasn’t even sure if he wasn’t actually being stabbed. Every hit making him feel more and more numb and falling in the cold darkness.

As he woke up again, gasping for air and wishing the pain away, he could feel that something was different. Something was happening.

He wasn’t sure why he felt that way or if it was true, but he didn’t care. No matter what could be happening, it would probably sign his end. He wasn’t sure how long he could hold on anymore. Maybe next time they’d come for him he wouldn’t make it. Maybe he would have to suffer a few more days. It was impossible to say.

A loud noise rang through the air, making his ears scream in pain at the volume of the sound, much too loud for him. He cried out silently, willing the pain and horrible, intensified, ringing of his ears away.

Something was happening out there, that was for sure. There were more noises coming from outside the room, horrible noises that didn’t make any sense in Snufkin’s exhausted and damaged brain.

Another noise, closer but still muffled under the commotion outside, and light suddenly filling the room and burning his poor eyes. Snufkin closed his eyes and whimpered as the pain in his eyes was unbearable. 

More noises, closer and closer. A muffled voice, incomprehensible. Something touching his shoulder. The small touch, although barely there, increased the pain in his body. He cried harder again. The touch left but the voice continued.

“-kin! Snufkin!” The voice finally cleared out enough for him to process the words.

The voice sounded so familiar.

“Snufkin, can you hear me?” 

This voice…

“Please.”

Little My?

Snufkin tried to hum, to let her know he could hear her. He immediately started coughing up again as he did.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here.” She said as she reached out to take Snufkin’s gag out of his mouth while Snufkin tried to open his eyes to see her.

He felt tears running harder down his cheeks and falling on the dusty ground as he finally managed to see Little My through his blurry eyes. Unless he was having hallucinations, it was really her. She was here. 

She came for him.

"Y- Leave- You can't- They'll catch you. " Snufkin coughed painfully. 

"I'm not leaving you." She replied firmly. "Don't worry. You'll be fine now." 

He thought he could see a reassuring smile on her face but, something sounded off with her. Something was… Different. He couldn't pinpoint out what it was with his foggy mind. 

"We'll get you out of here." She affirmed as she moved to untie the rope on his wrists. 

Snufkin wasn't sure what was happening anymore and if it was real. He wanted to believe in what she was saying but he felt like he had lost hope for too long and could feel it anymore. It was probably a dream, worst, an hallucination. 

Then, as Little My was working on his bonds, a dark figure appeared in the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far! I hope you like it so far and are looking forward to next part.
> 
> Our poor, poor boy. I really like to make him suffer, don't I? :3
> 
> Will he really get rescued? Did something happen to the others? Who is that shadowy figure?  
> Find out next week! ;P


	11. Mission Successful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark figure come into the room where Little My is trying to free her brother.  
> Snufkin can't tell who it is from where he is.

A dark figure appeared in the doorway, behind Little My. 

Snufkin was so sure it was them, so sure they were about to hurt them both, he froze, looking at the figure with terrified eyes. 

"There you are!" Little My huffed. Something sounded off again. "Are you done with them yet?"

It took a minute for Snufkin to realise that the figure in the doorway, the one Little My was talking to, was his father, Joxter, covered in blood. 

Joxter didn't say anything, making his way towards them silently. Blood covered a small part of his face, sliding down some strands of hair, splashed on his smock and running down his paws. 

Snufkin, shocked, stared at him as this one started to help Little My untie his bonds. It doesn’t take long, now that Joxter is there, for them to free him. Once his bonds were untied, Joxter approached Snufkin slowly, as to let him see him coming, to help him sit up.

Snufkin winced and coughed as he was moved, the movement making his whole body hurt so much he was sure he was about to explode. His vision whitened for a moment, blinding him, from how horrible the pain was. When his vision came back to him, Joxter was looking at him with a worried expression, contrasting with the blood on his face.

“Where are the others?” Little My asked, looking at Joxter before turning her concerned eyes to Snufkin again.

“I told them to wait for us further down the path.” Joxter replied, not taking his eyes off of his son.

“What about them? What did you do?” She asked quietly.

There was a small silence between the two before Joxter finally responded plainly. “I took care of them.”

Little My sighed, looking down for a moment before looking back up at her brother. “We should take Snufkin to the others.”

Joxter nodded in agreement. He stayed there, thinking for a moment, before scooping Snufkin up in his arms. He apologized quietly when this one started to make pained noises, paws immediately coming to grip Joxter’s smock tight as he rode out the pain.

Snufkin couldn’t hear anything anymore. He closed his eyes, that had gotten white again with the unbearable pain. He could barely feel the world moving around him as his father carried him out of the building.

It took a long time for him to recompose himself enough to open his eyes, only then realizing that he had been crying again and had his claws tearing small holes in his father’s smock.

He looked around them, trying his best to focus on everything around him as his eyes kept trying to close again, the pain still much too strong. They were in the forest, walking away from the building.

He didn’t have time to register anything else before he heard gasps from up ahead on the path, muffled cries of his name in familiar voices. He wasn’t sure what was happening now. The voices came closer, blurry forms appeared in his vision.

“Oh no! What have they done to him?” A female voice cried. His mind dragged out a name. Snorkmaiden.

“Oh, Snufkin.” Someone else said sadly. They sounded terrified and very worried. The voice was so familiar it was almost painful. Was it Moomin?

Someone else was here too, they weren’t talking just making scared noises. Somehow, Snufkin knew who it was. Of course, it was Sniff. The poor Sniff must have been well scared from seeing Joxter all bloody, but also Snufkin, as he knew he must not have been a beautiful sight to behold at the moment.

Snufkin wanted nothing but to get up and walk on his own to Moomin, to hug him. He’d missed him so dearly. He wanted to get better quickly, or at least have the strength to appear less hurt and miserable. Of course, it was all just wishes as he was in no condition to do any of that.

“Stop whining, Sniff.” Little My huffed. “We need to get him to MoominMamma. Come on.” 

“I hope Mamma will know how to help.” Snorkmaiden mumbled.

“Mamma always knows what to do.” Moomin noted blankly, too focused on Snufkin to even look at her.

Mamma Snufkin thought distantly. I hope she won’t be angry about all this.

With that, Joxter led the way back to the Valley, Little My right by his side. Each step hurt Snufkin more but, at least, he felt some kind of peace, of relief, at knowing that it was finally over. He was going back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! I hope you like it!
> 
> Poor Snufkin, I hurt him and scare him way too much.... But I can't stop myself X) I like this kind of angst too much whoops.
> 
> Now, that Joxter and Little My freed him he's finally in good hands (or more like paws :3c) and he'll finally get to be safe and heal :)


	12. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin finally gets home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O! Whoops! I totally forgot to update this last week-end! Sorry about that!
> 
> But, hey, here you go! Next chapter is up!
> 
> Enjoy!

MoominPappa had been surprised that morning when he’d woken up to find out that his son had sneaked out in the early morning. MoominMamma seemed unphased by this, explaining to him that she saw their son leaving with Little My and the Joxter when she got up.

There were two things very wrong at that time. He knew Joxter too well and was very afraid of whatever trouble this one would get Moomin into. The second cause for concern was that he knew MoominMamma too well. He knew that she was worried about Snufkin from the start but that, without any traces, they couldn’t do anything to figure out where this one was. Now, she had seemed unphased but, he knew that she was thinking it was related to Snufkin’s disappearance and that she felt as if they should have been able to do something to help find him.

He dearly hoped, at that time, that she was wrong and that their son was just gone for a walk with the two without anything to it.

Of course, now, he couldn’t help but sigh at that thought. How stupid it had been to even hope.

Joxter stood there, at their front door, with blood all over himself and with a Snufkin in poor condition, and barely conscious, in his arms and his group of friends behind them. They all looked pretty shaken and worried, which wasn’t surprising seeing Snufkin’s condition and the blood on his old friend’s face and clothes.

“Heavens. What have you done?” Pappa could only ask, speechless.

“I didn’t kill anyone.” Joxter immediately defended himself, frowning. “My son need MoominMamma though.”

“I can see that.” Pappa sighed, annoyed at his friend and not really trusting his words.

Pappa let them all in, calling in for MoominMamma as he did. Joxter mumbled a quick ‘thanks’ as he passed by MoominPappa. Everyone followed him quietly.

MoominMamma came quickly, gasping at the sight and immediately setting to work. She directed Joxter to put Snufkin on the couch so she could have a look at him. While Joxter laid him on the soft couch, she took out the first aid kit and asked MoominPappa to go make some pain tea for Snufkin.

Then, she started to take a look at Snufkin, starting from his face, bruised and swollen and with cuts and cracked lips. She started to clean him, apologizing when he groaned in complaint.

“You should go clean yourself.” She said indifferently to Joxter who was standing next to the couch, watching her closely as she worked on patching up his son. “If anyone see you like this they might ask questions.”

Joxter hesitated for a moment, looking at his son and thinking, before finally groaning and going upstairs to the bathroom.

“At least, he doesn’t need to be forced to for once.” MoominPappa mumbled to himself.

MoominMamma, once she was done taking care of Snufkin’s injuries, helped him drink the tea MoominPappa had prepared. Snufkin had trouble drinking but he managed to do it without choking on it.

“I think a nice salt bath should help with the cuts and with the pain.” Mamma noted. “Would you mind taking one?” She asked him.

Snufkin nodded, as best as he could. Mamma smiled at him, before turning to the others.

“Now, how about you all go play outside until dinner. Don’t worry, Snufkin will be fine.” She said gently.

They all looked at each other, looking reluctant to leave, but nodded and left. Only Little My stayed.

“I’m not leaving.” She said, looking like she had already set her mind on the question and as if nothing could change it.

“Of course, dear. You can stay, but don’t bother your brother, alright?” Mamma teased gently.

“I would never!” Little My replied, offended

MoominMamma chuckled, taking the cup away to be washed. MoominPappa took it from her to go wash it. They all looked up when Joxter came back down, freshly cleaned and with old clothes that they had kept here for him, just in case.

“Perfect.” Mamma said with a smile. “Good thing those old clothes still fit you.”

Joxter hummed in response. “Thanks for keeping them for me.” 

“It’s nothing.” Mamma replied with a soft smile before looking back at Snufkin. “Now, I’ll help Snufkin take a salt bath and then he can rest in the guest bedroom.”

“Need any help?” Joxter asked, eager to help with anything regarding his son.

“I should be able to deal with it. Don’t worry you can rest here while I take care of that.” Mamma declined gently. “I’ll make it quick.”

Joxter nodded in agreement, ignoring Little My’s huff of disappointment. With that, MoominMamma approached Snufkin again, warning him before touching him, and carried him to the upstairs bathroom.

“I need to take your clothes off, alright?” She warned as she set Snufkin down on the carpet in front of the bathtub.

Snufkin nodded weakly. He was hurting so much, yet he felt better, probably thanks to MoominMamma’s medicine. He couldn’t say that he was looking forward to the bath, but, he knew it would be the best way to heal his body of all the cuts and bruises even if it hurt on the moment.

MoominMamma made quick work of his clothes, making sure to be careful to not hurt him too much, and prepared the bath while Snufkin sat against the bathtub. While the bath was getting ready, she examined his body and took care of a few more bruises.

“I’ll get you in. It’ll hurt a bit.” She warned again as she reached out to carry him into the bath.

She waited for Snufkin to nod before scooping him up and letting him into the bath. He winced and gasped at the pain brought by the contact of the salty water with his bruised skin. MoominMamma tried to sooth him as he fought the pain, stroking his hair gently and reassuring him that it would be quick.

It didn’t last long before MoominMamma decided it was enough, gently taking him out of the bathtub and onto a towel, wrapping him with another one to help him dry while the bathtub emptied itself. She was very gentle, so as to not hurt him. She dressed him carefully with spare clothes they had kept for him before carrying him to the guest bedroom and laying him gently in bed and tucking him in.

She then left him to go tell the others and to let him rest. Snufkin, now left alone and laid in a comfortable bed, could feel sleep overcome him. This time it wasn’t the dark and restless sleep that came after being hurt by his kidnappers, but the warm and comfortable sleep coming after taking a warm bath and having drunk some good pain medicinal tea and being tucked in bed.

Later that night, when MoominMamma came to check on him, she would find him sleeping soundly, curled up against his father’s chest, Joxter’s arms and tail wrapped around him protectively and Little My sleeping against his back. She would process to kiss their forehead and wish good night to Joxter, who woke up with the movement, and leave them to rest for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! I hope you enjoy the story.
> 
> There only one more chapter to go for our boy to get over what happened to him and heal.  
> I'm really sorry, I totally forgot to update it before, I kept remembering when i couldn't do it and then when i could i would have forgotten already, whoops. Anyway, I might put the last chapter sooner than in a week since i've put this one way later than i thought i would but I cannot guaranty it as, as you've seen, I easily forget those things lol. We'll see.  
> Thank you for you patience!


	13. Comfort After The Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Sh** I forgot again, whoops.
> 
> Here, have the final chapter of this painful fic.  
> Some good comfort coming.

“What’s wrong Moomin? Did you have a bad night?” Mamma asked as Moomin walked groggily into the kitchen while she backed her delicious pancakes.

“I had nightmares.” Moomin groaned slightly. “Say, Mamma. Will Snufkin really be alright?”

“Of course, dear. But he might need some time to recover after that.” She warned gently. “You’ll have to be patient and nice with him.”

Moomin nodded silently in response and went to sit at the table behind her. MoominMamma smiled at him before going back to her pancakes. 

After a few minutes, Little My came in the kitchen, looking tired and worried. She hopped on the counter next to Mamma.

“Snufkin says it hurts a lot.” She explained. “Can you give him something for the pain?”

“Of course, dear.” Mamma nodded, putting the last pancake in the plate with the others and turning off the stove. “I’ll prepare it in a second. Will Joxter come downstairs to eat or should I get so pancakes up to him?”

“He’d prefer to stay with Snufkin.” She sighed. “Snufkin doesn’t seem hungry though but he should have something too.” 

“Of course, of course. I’ll prepare something for him that’s easy to stomach and bring a plate of pancakes to his father.” Mamma agreed as she started to take the herbs of the shelf to prepare the pain medicine. “How about you two eat breakfast while I prepare everything for them? Pappa will eat his plate later, he’s too busy writing for now.”

Little My groaned but obliged, hopping down the counter to come sit at the table with Moomin as MoominMamma gave them their plates. While they ate, MoominMamma took care of preparing everything for Joxter and Snufkin and went to bring it to them.

She knocked on the door before going in. When she entered, she was met with the sight of a crying Snufkin in his father’s arms, shaking and sobbing. She approached gently, setting down the tray on the nightstand. She turned to them, giving Joxter a questioning look.

“He had nightmares and his body hurt too much.” Joxter whispered, as if to avoid Snufkin hearing him.

“I see.” Mamma hummed. “I brought some pain medicine for him.”

She took the cup of medicine in our paws while Joxter tried to calm Snufkin and explain that Mamma would need him to drink the medicine to help him feel better. After a moment, Snufkin finally calmed down enough to drink the cup from Mamma’s paws.

“Now, now, what horrible nightmare got you in such a state?” Mamma asked as she gently ran her paw through his hair in a soothing manner.

“They were hurting us.” Snufkin sobbed quietly, clinging to his father. “They wanted to kill us. There was so much blood.” With those words, a look of guilt crept its way up Joxter’s face, one that MoominMamma, if she saw it, wouldn’t point out. “It hurt so much, Mamma.” He cried, looking up at her with pleading eyes. “Why did they do all this? Why?”

“I don’t know, dear, I don’t know.” MoominMamma shook her head slowly, paw lingering in his hair. “But, you’re safe now. You’re home and you’re safe.”

“Yes. You’re alright now. And I took care of them so they won’t ever try to hurt you or anybody again.” Joxter agreed.

Snufkin didn’t say anything else, only continuing to cry, but the reassurances did seem to calm him a little. Joxter hugged him close, Snufkin only clinging more as he was brought closer to his father’s chest, while MoominMamma stroked his hair in a soothing rhythm.

It took some time, but, eventually, they managed to calm him down enough to have him eat the soup MoominMamma had cooked for him. They still continued to reassure him and to hold onto him as they helped him drink his soup.

“They won’t come back?” Snufkin asked after a while, so small, so unsure and scared.

“They won’t. Never.” Joxter confirmed, as MoominMamma nodded as well.

“Joxter wouldn’t lie on that.” Little My agreed, hopping onto the bed. They hadn’t noticed her coming back in. “You can be sure they won’t come hurt you ever again. You’re safe.”

“Where is Moomin? Are they all fine?” Snufkin asked, concerned.

“Moomin’s downstairs, dear. They’re all fine, don’t worry.” Mamma answered reassuringly. “Would you like to see him?” 

Snufkin stayed quiet for a moment before nodding, looking almost shy about it, embarrassed even. Joxter and Mamma exchanged glances before Mamma got up and went back to the door of the bedroom. Joxter hugged his son close before letting go and taking his plate of pancakes and coming after her, leaving only Little My to keep an eye on her brother until Moomin would come.

“Moomin, dear, Snufkin would like to see you.” MoominMamma announced as she came into the living room. “Would you mind going upstairs?”

“He wants to see me?” Moomin asked quietly. “Of course. I’ll go right away.”

Moomin immediately got up, only giving Joxter a quick polite greeting before heading up the stairs and towards the guest bedroom. As he went in, Little My hopped off the bed and headed out to leave them alone, only giving Moomin a quick warning to not ‘overwhelm him or hurt his feelings’ or she’d make him pay.

“Snufkin.” Moomin called as he approached his friend. “How are you feeling?” 

“Moomin…” Snufkin said with eyes filling up with tears again as he looked at him.

“Aw, Snufkin.” Moomin said sadly, getting closer to the bed to reach out and pull Snufkin carefully into a comforting hug.

Snufkin accepted the hug easily, melting into it almost immediately and burying his face into Moomin’s fur. Moomin winced at the pained noises his friend made but didn’t make any comment on it, leaving Snufkin to decide whether or not he wanted to be left alone or not. He knew his friend well enough by now to know when he needed someone close to him. Right now, he knew Snufkin was still in shock and hurt, and he needed someone to comfort him no matter the pain that came with the movement.

“It’s okay, Snuf. I’m here. You’re fine. We’re fine.” Moomin whispered into his hair.

He continued to whisper reassurances to Snufkin for a while, hugging him close and stroking his back gently. It took a few minutes but eventually, Snufkin spoke.

“I was so scared.” He mumbled into Moomin’s fur. “So scared…”

“I know.” Moomin whispered calmly. “But you’re safe now. It’s all over.”

“I thought… I thought nobody would come.” Snufkin sobbed. “I was sure I was going to die there. They wanted to kill me. They wanted to kill us all for their god. I tried- I tried to get them away from the Valley. I tried to get them away from you. They wouldn’t let me go after. They wanted me to agree, they wanted to force me to accept to be sacrificed.” Snufkin cried, tears soaking into Moomin’s fur, paws clutching at the fur. “The things they said... It hurt so much, Moomin. So much. I- I was starting to think th- that I should let them kill me, so I wouldn’t suffer anymore. Bu- But I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Moomin asked, puzzled as to why his friend was giving him apologies out of the blue.

“I almost let you all down.” Snufkin sobbed. “Just because I was lonely and in pain, and I was sure I would die anyway. I shouldn’t even have thought of it. I shouldn’t deserve to be alive now.”

“Now, now, calm down. You did nothing wrong at all.” Moomin intervened, concerned after such words from his dear friend. “You were really brave in fact. I’m really impressed and very proud of you. You managed to hang in there for so long. I’m the one that has to be sorry. We should have come before.”

“But you came.” Snufkin murmured wetly. “You came for me.”

“Of course, we came.” Moomin said sternly. “We couldn’t leave you like that. And thanks to your father, now, we can be sure they’ll never be back ever again.”

“D- Do you think he… Killed them?” Snufkin froze, asking with a small voice.

“I was sure he would, to be honest.” Moomin confessed. “But, he really didn’t. He only hurt them a bit and made them run away. He gave them a good correction.”

“Really?” Snufkin asked, muffled by the fur.

“Yes. They had spotted us and he came in to give them a good lesson. We didn’t get to see much though, he told us to run away and wait farther in the forest so we only just saw them running away with blood on them.” Moomin explained.”You’re father was so angry at them and so worried for you. He really loves you. Even Little My was so worried that she couldn’t yell at us for failing our mission. You really do have a loving family.”

“Loving…” Snufkin repeated quietly.

“Yes. They love you so much. And we love you as well!” Moomin said quickly. “I know Mamma and Pappa think of you as their son. I know you might not like that but it’s still true. And I love you too.” He mumbled, blushing.

“Yo- You do?” Snufkin asked with a small and shy voice.

Moomin didn’t trust his words anymore so he just hummed in response and nodded against Snufkin’s hair. He felt a small relief when he could feel Snufkin snuggle closer, squeezing him against himself. Moomin nuzzled his hair as Snufkin tried to calm himself, slowly stopping the tears from falling down his face and onto the troll’s while and fluffy fur.

Not much happened after that, Moomin continued to play with Snufkin’s hair and to rub his back until this one fell asleep against him, the pain medicine and the crying having tiring him out.

Later that day, Snorkmaiden and Sniff came by to take some news on their friend’s wellbeing. They couldn’t see him that day as he was resting, sleeping soundly, and needed to be left alone. The next days, they would come by to keep him company, spending their afternoon with him and Moomin and Little My, reading books to him or just talking about the gossips of the Valley.

It took a few days for Snufkin to feel better enough to be able to walk around in the house, not yet healed enough to go outside but just so he could be out of his room and go rest on the porch.

Snorkmaiden, Sniff and Moomin brought him get well soon gifts. Snorkmaiden made him a crown with her best seashells, adding a few flowers but not on the foundations of the crown so he could change them when they’d die. Sniff brought him a beautiful feather he’d found, one that came from a rare bird that only stayed at the same place for a few days before flying away somewhere else and that, for Mr Hemulen’s delight, came to the Valley every year, much like Snufkin himself. Moomin, him, asked MoominMamma to teach him how to embroider so he could embroidered golden flowers on a green ribbon for Snufkin’s tail or hair.

Snufkin spent most of his time with Little My and Joxter, sleeping with them at night as he feared to be alone. He was plagued with nightmares every night and needed comfort from them when he woke up.   
Moomin would come by in the morning to keep him company, joined by their friend in the afternoon. They all could notice how scared he looked every time his eyes landed on the forest. They were all very worried about him but they tried their best to keep his mind up.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for him to get better enough to go on small walks outside. He was reluctant to go in the forest at first but they managed to make him go, promising to be by his side and that everything would be fine. He was very scared, always shaking and looking around warily, squeezing on someone’s paw. But, after some time, he finally started to relax a bit. He was still scared, and still needed to be with someone, but he wasn’t shaking as bad and looked more comfortable being there.

Even though he’d been better for months, he still hadn’t managed to go out on his own, always needing someone to be with him. So, when winter came, he asked his father, although in a very obvious embarrassed manner, to come with him for his trip south. He didn’t want to listen to his fears and stay in the Valley, but he also didn’t want to be alone quite yet. Obviously, his father agreed easily, swearing to protect him if it was ever needed.

The next year, when he came back with his father, he looked much more relaxed, walking confidently ahead of his father. He came running down the path when he saw Moomin coming towards him and the two came barreling into each other, Moomin, much heavier, falling on top of him. He got up quickly, reaching out to Snufkin to help him back up and already giving him an apology, but he stopped, looking at his friend in surprise for a moment. Snufkin was laughing, smiling happily up at Moomin who soon joined him in his giggles.

Little My came rushing out of the house and jumped into Snufkin’s arms, almost making him fall back down, hugging him close while trying to mock him for being so silly. Joxter soon joined in the hug, wrapping his arms around the both of them even inviting Moomin to join.

Moomin was sure that, this year, everything would be fine. Snufkin would be alright and they could go on many adventures together, maybe even going on a few dates if Snufkin was alright with it.

This year would be wonderful and nothing compared to the last one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. It's the end! Finally.  
> Thank you for reading to the end! I hope you enjoyed the story.
> 
> Poor Snufkin, I really made him suffer a lot (me and Max :3). I almost feel bad about it, almost... But I like this kind of story too much :3  
> At least, he got a good ending and gets to be comforted by his family.


End file.
